The Rose Lives On
by ThoughtfulTikal
Summary: There was nothing left for her back in England. The one thing Mina Aino thought she had was taken from her, before her very eyes. She witnessed it after a tragic explosion; he held her friend in his arms while the friend did the same to him.


There was nothing left for her back in England. The one thing Mina Aino thought she had was taken from her, before her very eyes. She witnessed it after a tragic explosion; he held her friend in his arms while the friend did the same to him.

To experience love during youth was like smelling a red rose for the first time. It always carried a lovely fragrance at first, but soon afterwards, it began to weaken and shrivel up until all its petals fell away.

Mina decided that this rose of her youth wasn't worth tending to. So she faked her death as if she'd actually been caught in the explosion and ran to Japan... or rather, a place called Station Square.

* * *

As one would expect, the atmosphere in Station Square is lively and busy. Whether it be in cars or by sidewalk, citizens get to where they need to go.

"Thank you!" smiles the woman who just recieved a coin from someone buying the city newspaper from her booth.

Two women can be seen laughing and conversing next to the pool just outside Emerald Coast Hotel. They clank their glasses together and sip their tropical drinks like there's not a better one out there. Deep in their hearts, even they feel accomplished like the woman selling newspapers. It's just the sort of vibe Station Square gives off.

Over in the Hamburger Shop, there's a man waiting for his date to arrive near the entrance. He anxiously checks his watch over and over but assures himself that everything will be fine.

"I'm here!"

The man recognizes this voice and immediately his face glows.

He sees a big, pretty smile on his date's face and replies, "Wow... nice dress, Lydia."

"You really think so?"

The excitement in his heart and the blushing of Lydia's cheeks make them both feel tingly on the inside, the lovely frangrance that Mina so dearly longed for.

"Yes, it really looks nice on you. Now, why don't you say we start our date now?"

Lydia nods without a word and begins towards the Hamburger Shop, with her date's arm linked around hers.

A taxi parks beside the street they were just on, and Mina steps out of it while carrying her two suitcases.

She happens to catch a glimpse of them before Hamburger Shop door closes; signs of regret show on her face.

* * *

It would be a while before Mina got her furniture moved into her new place, but before that, she decides to find her room and set these suitcases of hers down.

For what seems like five minutes, the blonde still doesn't find a door with the correct apartment number. The card on her key read "109", and all she sees around her are digits between "300" and "350".

She concludes that someone gave her the wrong apartment key, or she just has no idea where she's going.

"Are you lost, miss?"

This child's sweet voice stops Mina in her tracks. She turns around to give a response, but almost drops her suitcases when she realizes who is standing in front of her.

"Were...w-were you the one who talked to me just now?"

This animal Mina is standing in front of verily reminds her of the stuffed plushies she keeps in her bedroom.

Except this one has bubblegum-pink fur, green eyes, and a cute black nose. She keeps her hair laid down by a red headband, and wears a fluffy red dress with matching Go-Go boots.

"Yes, it was me who just said something to you." The animal forms a bit of a frown on her face as if Mina did something wrong. How she excepts Mina to treat her appearance as normal, the human girl doesn't know, but she manages to calm down.

In all of her life, she's seen her friend Artemis who is a talking cat and dangerous creatures known as a Youmas; however neither of them resemble this pink animal right here.

"You look like you're not sure where your apartment room is," the pink animal continues.

"Yeah, I just recieved my room key today so I'm not sure how the directions in this apartment work."

Maybe an animal like this one wasn't all that strange; Mina just wasn't expecting to see anything like it in a city like Station Square. No one had told her that it had anthropomorphous people.

The pink animal suggests that she guide Mina to her destination. Later after they did, she stays around and introduces herself as "Amy Rose", further explaining about herself and what her species was.

Mina almost can't believe it.

"A hedge-hog? Aren't those tiny animals who curl into balls like this?" Mina demonstrates the size of a hedgehog by show of her hands.

"No, not even! I'm not sure what hedgehogs you're talking about, but I'm a hedgehog who was born on a planet called Mobius."

"Mobius..." No matter how long she thought deeply into it, Mina can't figure out what this mysterious planet was; though she still takes Amy Rose's word for it.

"So I guess you've never heard of me or my friends, have you, Mina?"

"Yeah, I guess not. Just who are your friends?"

Amy appears to be glad that Mina asked this question. She starts out by sharing details about her blue hero, Sonic The Hedgehog. And from what Mina sees, her new friend likes this Sonic guy the best.

After hearing about all of Amy's friends, the teenager says, "I would be glad to meet all of them. But right now isn't a good time, I have to unpack my things and start job hunting."

"Okay! Just stop by my apartment whenever you're ready to hang out and go somewhere," Amy smiles cheerfully, "It was very nice to meet you, Mina!"

"You too, Amy Rose! See you later!"

As soon as Amy closes the door behind her, Mina returns to her task at hand by unlatching her first suitcase. While beginning to unfold her clothes, she can't help but feel excited about the new friend she just made. So far she already knows that they both like fashion and romance. For all she knows, there may be more in store when she finally meets Amy Rose's friends.

In between the time Mina finds her job and gets her furniture moved into her new place, her and Amy keep in touch.

They decide to meet each other on Emerald Coast to go swimming in its ocean.

Appearing in a two-piece swimsuit, Mina notices Amy with only a few of her friends beside the ocean. Except for the blue figure known as Sonic, who can be seen sitting under a coconut tree with his arms crossed.

Amy's friends, otherwise known as Tails and Cream, introduce themselves to her. Then that's when Mina asks about Sonic's lack of participation and Tails explains it to her.

"Sonic isn't usually secluded like this. He won't come swim with the rest of us because he's afraid of water."

"What?" While floating in the ocean, Mina turns her head to the blue hedgehog and never sees him move an inch from under that coconut tree. "How can someone be afraid to get in water? It doesn't bite."

"He doesn't know how to swim," added Amy, "Even I've tried to get him to learn but he always refuses like a scaredy cat... huh?"

Before Amy could say another word, she discovers Mina swimming back towards dry land.

No one ever understood his water phobia. Even he didn't understand it himself, which was the reason why he decided never to think more into it.

"Hi!"

Sonic looks up, ignoring the sea sickness that started brewing in his stomach. That girl who met Amy is standing over him now, and there's a smile so friendly on her face that he can't help but see what she's came for.

"Hey," Sonic grins weakly and rises to his feet.

"The others told me you don't get along too well with water."

"Yeah, they told you right."

"Well why don't you learn? I'm sure if you really want to, then soon you'll be out there swimming with the rest of us."

"Ames has tried to teach me sometimes," Sonic looks away from Mina, "But it's just not my thing, ya' know? I was made for speed. That's why they call me the Fastest Thing Alive."

This friend of Amy's had to be joking. Sure, his nickname sounded cool, but there was no way that he could have the fastest speed.

"The Fastest Thing Alive?" Mina smirks and puts a hand to her hip, "I'm afraid I don't believe that. For you to be the fastest thing, that would mean you would have to be faster than sound."

"Wanna bet?" Sonic smirks back.

Mina sees where this conversation is going and she still keeps her lips curled. This Sonic guy seemingly has a bit of arrogance about him but nothing to back it up.

Her face gives the answer, so he gets ready and takes off... at the speed of sound!

In that quick second, Mina feels herself collapse from astonishment and stares at Sonic with her eyes almost popping out of her head.

"He didn't seriously do that just now... it's not humanly possible!" Mina remembers Amy's words back in her apartment. Sonic wasn't human; he was from the same planet as Amy.

Seemingly, Mina couldn't get herself to get back up.

Sonic zips back over to her and wags his finger. "So are you convinced? Sonic's the name and speed's my game!"

After fully recovering, Mina puts her hand out for a handshake. "I'm Mina Aino. I moved here from England a few days ago and I'm starting to really like it here."

"Well great!" Sonic gives a thumbs up, "Maybe we could get together somewhere where's there no water and hang out!"

"Wait, that gives me a good idea!"

While Mina and Sonic's conversation goes well, Amy and the others get out of the water and hear what's going on when they approach them.

"There's this awesome resturant I found, just beside the Casino that has kareoke. Why don't we all go there, tonight at seven o' clock sharp?"

Everyone seems to like this idea, especially Amy who clings onto Sonic. "Yeah, that's an awesome idea! It's been a long time since any of us heard Sonic sing. He's so good at it!"

"Aw, come on now, Ames," Sonic blushes, scratching his head at the same time, "I'm not that great at it. It was just a one time thing, and I only did it because of a bet I lost to against Knuckles."

"You know how to sing?"

The atmosphere gets quiet and Sonic is left surprised by Mina's question, for her tone was extra curious. It was like Amy just mentioned, he knew how to sing, but it was from a long time ago, so the hedgehog hadn't done so ever since.

But Mina looked interested to learn more about it.

"Then it's settled! You'll pick your favorite song and sing it to all of us at the karaoke bar tonight, only after I wow the crowd first," Mina complimented herself.

"You mean you know how to sing too, Miss Mina?" asks Cream.

The blonde turns to Cream and gives a sweet smile. "Mhm! I've always loved singing ever since I was about your age. Someday I'm gonna be a celebrity and have my own music album."

"That's sounds wonderful! Maybe when you finally make your music, could I listen to it?"

"Of course you could!"

Amy, Sonic, and Tails do nothing but take in this cutesy moment between the youngest and oldest girl and smile themselves.

A blend of confidence and warmth stirs in Mina's heart as she already has another friend who admires her and has such an adorable sense about herself.

"You know what they say, better sooner than never!"

Everyone wakes up from their dazed smiles and looks to Mina who's given this jumbled up proverb.

"Mina? I think what you meant to say was, "Better late than never," suggests Tails with a sweatdrop on his face.

His buddies's faces look the same when they also know him to be correct.

"I did?" Mina blinks confusedly, "No, I'm sure I said it right. Better for Cream to hear my voice sooner than if she never listened to it at all."

There seems to be nothing Tails or anyone else could say against this. Being only six years old, Cream has no idea what's being talked about.

Meanwhile, Sonic and Amy are still in the middle of processing how serious Mina felt her statement.

"Well... I guess we really can't argue with that."

"Yeah, let's just forget about it and move on," Amy agreed with a nervous laugh.

"Did I miss something?" Mina looks to her smaller friends with that puzzled look of hers again. Just what is it that they're talking about, she wonders.

* * *

A figure gazing upon their crystal ball has long hair and eyes that burn red like fire, a purple dress that hugs her voluptuous body, and a black tiara across her forehead. Her name is Queen Beryl; being the one who destroyed the Moon Kingdom 1,000 years ago, she has learned of an excellent way to gather energy for the Negaforce.

Kareoke bars build up excitement, especially when a lot of humans visit and have fun in them.

One of the Heavenly Kings, General Zoisite, enters his Queen's presence through a portal, and greets her by bowing down on one knee.

"Queen Beryl, I have come for the task you've prepared for me."

"Yes, and I hope that you will not fail me the same way Jadeite and Nephrite have."

"Oh, no, you can be assured that I won't let you down like those two. They were underestimating their enemies. I won't make the same mistake."

"Very well. I would like for you to find go to this place and steal these humans' energies.

Without hesitation, Zoisite walks up to his leader and sees the kareoke bar himself. Everyone inside of it looks so happy and are clapping their hands with apparent excitement.

Having learned of his mission, Zoisite bids Queen Beryl farewell and disappears back into his portal.

And so their next destination had been picked.

* * *

Later on in the day, Mina and her new friends go down to Station Square's kareoke spot, where anyone and everyone liked to go, sit down, and listen to others show off their awesome singing skills.

While everyone else found a table and began to order their food, Mina decides that she would take care of requesting to sing; she would return to the others and eat afterwards.

Amy bites into her cheese burger. "I'm kind've excited to hear what song Mina sings! Sonic, on the way here did she tell what song she chose?"

"No, she said she wanted it to be a surprise," Sonic shrugs his shoulders, "But whichever one it is, I'm sure it'll be great."

Amy nods with a smile and takes another bite.

"This is the first time I've ever been to kareoke!" says Cream.

"Really?" asks Tails.

"Mhm! And there are so many people here too!"

"Well of course it is! This is one of the hottest places Station Square has to offer. Lots of people come here when they want a good time," explains Sonic.

"Shh! I think they're about to let Mina get on the stage," comes Amy's voice.

The beginning notes of Mina's song faded into the atmosphere. It sounds like a rock type of song, titled, "Open Your Heart" by Crush 40.

Mina walks up the stairs and onto the stage. She is applauded by most of those in the crowd so she smiles back and waves to them, mainly Sonic and the others.

When they cheer her on, the singer gives an eye wink, then places her attention on the lyrics screen above her.

One, two, three, go!

"Thunder, rain, and lightning... danger, water rising... clamour, sirens wailing... it's such a bad sign! Shadows of dark creatures... steel clouds floating in the air... people run for shelter... what's gonna happen to us!"

The passion Mina put into this song really speaks to the crowd, helping its message get all the more through.

She enjoys herself up there more than anyone expected.

"All the steps we take, all the moves we make, all the pain at stake... I see the chaos for everyone who are we what can we do... you and I are same in the way that we have our own styles that we won't change... yours is filled with evil and mine's not there is no way I can lose!"

Loud cheers continuously come from the crowd. They can't get enough of her, they anticipate the song's climax.

"Can't hold on much longer - but i will never let go!"

More cheers fill the room.

"I know it's a one way track - tell me now how long this'll last."

In the midst of everyone's excitement, Sonic can't help but wonder... how much Mina loves singing like this... how she looks so natural up on that stage and makes it look so fun and easy...

... a peace the hedgehog never thought he'd find.

"I'm not gonna think this way - nor will i count on others..." her dance to the words of this song worked in perfect unison.

"Close my eyes and feel it burn - now i see what i've gotta do... open your heart, it's gonna be alright! Yeah!"

Today offcially has been a wonderful day.

"Open your heart!"

The last instruments in the song play, then it 's all over... the moment when the audience really gives their praises until it sounds as loud as the music.

Mina has trouble putting her smile away.

"Mina, you were so awesome up there!" exclaims Amy, as Mina goes back over to them.

"Yeah. You got the whole crowd to cheer for you!" Sonic agrees as he gives a thumbs up.

"Thanks you guys," Mina replies, "Well, looks like its your turn, Sonic."

The Blue Blur nods to this, but suddenly his eyes become sharp and serious.

"Hm."

He studies the whole room in hopes of finding a new, strange presence he feels.

For one thing, the civilians all appear to become lightheaded as though some mysterious force is weakening them.

"Sonic, what's wrong?"

Still, Amy gets no answer. She, Tails, and Cream notice the weakened civilians for themselves.

"What's happening to them?"

"It looks like something is taking their energy away!" Tails turns to Sonic, "There's a chance that Dr. Eggman could be behind this."

After nodding in agreement, Sonic begins for the kareoke's exit with his pals behind him. Next, as they all gather outside, he jumps into the air and leaps onto the kareoke building's roof.

"Why didn't I feel it before?" wonders Mina, who imitates Sonic and goes up too.

"Mina!" Amy yells out with astonishment. Since when did Mina know how to jump like that?

What didn't make sense starts to come together like a puzzle.

In Zoisite's hand, a fair amount of energy swirls until enough of it is retrieved. "Just a little bit longer and I will have all of the energy Queen Beryl needs."

Silently, Zoisite turns his head and sees a figure approaching him. Nothing but an evil grin plays on his lips.

"So, the hero of this town has finally decided to show up."

Sonic stands heroically with his fists clenched.

"Well it's a shame I can't stick around to see what you're made of." Zoisite reveals the humans' energy. "My master is expecting me to give her this energy so she can finally unleash the Negaforce."

"So that's why all those people were collapsing." Sonic becomes furious and moves into a fierce battle stance. Stealing from the innocent goes against everything in his world.

"I don't know who you are, but I won't let you get away with their energy!"

"Give it back now!"

Sonic looks behind him and learns the owner of this voice.

"Mina?"

Instead of appearing in her school uniform, Mina wears her Sailor Scout uniform, a sailor suit that comes in orange and white.

She doesn't look like the girl who was on the stage singing just minutes ago. A stronger, more mysterious girl arrives.

"So you're ally has decided to join the party? Well like I've said before, I won't be able to stay, so maybe you should meet one of my friends."

Before anyone realizes it, Zoisite shapes his ball of energy into a humanized monster. It carries long, sharp claws and shining, yellow eyes.

Mina gets into her fighting stance and goes to stand beside Sonic.

"You know I didn't expect to see you here, but now that you are, let's take this guy out before anything else goes wrong," Sonic mutters to her.

A sweatdrop appears on Mina's head. "Yeah, I'll explain everything later, I promise."

"Take care of these two then come back so Queen Beryl can have that energy," Zoisite says to the monster, then disappears into his same portal.

At that instant, the monster lunges towards its opponents and slashes at them, but unfortunately misses.

Sonic and Mina both step to the side, then each throw their own attacks.

"Crescent Beam, Smash!"

"Sonic Wind!"

When these moves hit the monster, it slaps them back towards Mina and Sonic.

"What?" thinks Mina.

While Sonic easily dodges, Mina takes damage and flies backwards.

"Mina!"

How did that monster reflect her beam like that?

Even as Sonic rushes to the Sailor Scout's side, she can't seem to... open her eyes.

"Mina!" Sonic helps her to her feet, and notices her eyelids. "Something wrong with your eyes?"

"The light from my attack blinded me so I can't open them." Mina stood still with her fists balled up.

There had to be something Sonic could do to remedy this. But now wasn't the time to be thinking.

"You'll have to take on that monster without me," she continues.

"Alright then." Now fired up, Sonic turns back to the monster and grits his teeth. "Ready to duke it out?"

The monster responds with a violent growl.

"Then let's dance!"

As she is suffering from the mentioned light blindness, all Mina can do is hear the battle taking place. Sonic could possibly be dashing and turning, while the monster slashing and growling. But when everything is said and done, a loud, monstrous, cry fills the area.

"Well." From the Negaverse, Zoisite sees his minion's failure however remains calm. "Perhaps I underestimated that hedgehog too much."

"Alright!" Sonic lands back on the ground and watches the monster shrivel into dust. After that finishes, the humans' energy returns to each of their bodies. Each person from inside the karaoke bar can feel it, and so they get back on their feet.

"Woah... what was that just now?" asks a young blonde man.

By now Mina is sure that the monster has been defeated. The light blindness hasn't left her just yet, so she doesn't sense Sonic approaching her.

"Mina." Sonic signals his presence by grabbing her hand, unaware of the feeling it gives Mina. The touch from his hand feels gentle and comforting.

She tries to regain her sight, but no success.

"That blindness never went down yet." Sonic confirms in a worried tone.

"I'll be fine. I just need help getting home so I can get some rest."

"You mean you never got any sleep last night?"

"Well, it was a lot of work getting all of my furniture moved. I didn't get everything moved until after 12:00 A.M.."

A friendly smile plays on Sonic's lips as he begins to grab Mina and hold her like a bride. "No worries."

Mina knew she needed some assistance, but did Sonic really have to hold her like this?

"Sonic!" Mina blushes with extremely surprise.

She can't imagine how his face looks right about now. However the young woman does feel Sonic beginning to walk.

With a relieved smile he next leaps down from the roof. "It's good that she only suffered blindness and not anything worse," Sonic thinks as he stares at Mina.

"Sonic, Mina!" The voice of Amy exclaims. "Are you guys okay?"

Sonic answers, "Yeah, we are." The blue hero then sets Mina down, allowing their friends to have a better view of her.

"We didn't see what happened, but it sounded like you guys were fighting someone. So it was Eggman behind the whole thing?" asks Tails.

"No. We're not sure who it was."

"It was someone trying to steal energy. We didn't get to learn what their name was, but it obviously can't be anyone good," adds Mina, "Anyway, who's this Egg-man you guys are talking about?"

"Oh, we can tell you about Egg-head later," Sonic chuckles.

* * *

Later on during night time, Mina finds herself walking down the street beside Sonic, who's holding her hand to lead her to her apartment.

She could feel her sight steadily returning to her as they furthered down the sidewalk.

"So I guess I'll have to hear you sing another time."

"Hm?" Sonic looks over at Mina curiously, then looks forward again. "You're still thinking about that? I thought that was over and done with."

"What makes you think I would forget? Just because a bad guy shows up you think I let you off the hook?"

"Well, that's what I was hoping for."

Sonic would've thought of more words to say, but his eyes can't move from... Mina's blue ones.

"Hey! You finally got your sight back!"

Mina blinks a few times to make sure, then smiles at Sonic. "I told you I would be fine. Um..."

Mina can still feel a hand linked with hers. Then she looks down and visibly sees it.

This makes Sonic let go and blush red himself.

Both friends nervously look away from each other, then Sonic breaks the silence.

"Sorry for making you feel uncomfortable."

"No, no, you needed to hold my hand." Sonic's cheeks become redder and his eyes widen when Mina says this. "I-I mean, how else would I see where to go?"

"Y-Yeah, right."

While Sonic scratches his head, Mina briefly looks away, then puts her eyes back on him. She can't explain why she feels awkward around Sonic now. They'd only met each other just earlier in the afternoon, but she can already see herself doing so much with him. They have a lot in common. Their interactions are always so playful and lively. Just what could it all mean?

The pair finally arrives in front of Mina's apartment, planning to exchange farewells on the front steps of the entrance.

For few moments, the atmosphere is silent, as they both have so much on their mind that they can't decide what to say first.

"Well, I guess we'll see each other tomorrow then," begins Sonic.

"Yeah..."

Mina mentally slaps herself, wishing she could actually do it for how she's silent right now.

But Sonic brushes it off and waves goodbye with a toothy smile. "See you tomorrow, Mina!"

She watches him take off at that same unbelievable speed she witnessed earlier. It could've been a dream, but it was a hundred percent real, the same way Station Square wouldn't leave her disappointment or heartbreak like England had.

"Bye, Sonic!"

How did Mina know it wouldn't leave those things? Because it had someone who would help her get through them.


End file.
